People from Florida have chosen a unique final resting place that is also helping form a new marine ecosystem. Called the Neptune Memorial Reef, it is an underwater cemetery that is unlike any you might have seen.
The Neptune Memorial Reef off the Miami coast takes the idea of a sea burial to another level. It is 45 ft underwater and has gates, statues, pathways and even benches, like any other cemetery, except all this is fully submerged. Visitors need to wear scuba gear to get to the graves of their families or friends.
The cemetery spans more than 600,000 sq ft and is changing into the world’s biggest manmade reef as nature takes its course, converting it into a thriving ecosystem supporting diverse flora and fauna.
The initial idea was to construct a Lost City of Atlantis off the coast of Florida, but that would be too expensive, so the direction of the project was changed.
The concept of a memorial park was proposed and then took shape. Today, it looks like an underwater city spanning 16 acres and offers people an option to choose a unique final resting place for themselves. Instead of scattered ashes, one may choose a spot beneath the waves.
The lion monuments are the most expensive memorials on the reef, but if someone wants something simple, then there are many options.
The ashes of the dead are mixed into special underwater cement and cast into a shape decided by the deceased’s loved ones.
Divers then place the memorial in the designated spot in the cemetery, along with a copper and bronze plaque that has the name, birth date, and a short inscription about the dead person.
Visitors can see this plaque and identify their loved ones. Coral is growing on the reef, and in just a year, it has become a lively ecosystem with spotted eagle rays, schools of snapper and grunts, smaller fish like puffers and damsels, etc.
Soft corals and sponges have begun to colonise the reef, and soon, hard corals will also grow, forming beautiful shapes around the monuments on the sea bed.
Even land mammals began to gather, and as the artificial reef transformed, more divers began to explore this strange and unique cemetery.
The Department of Environmental Resource Management also conducted a study on the reef and found that in just two years, marine life around it grew from nothing to thousands of creatures.
While many would find this idea of an underwater cemetery unusual, a few agree that spending your eternity underwater with fish and other creatures is excellent.
